You will need to sign on with your LLLID (La Leche League ID) before you can post. If you have never claimed your LLLID, create your LLLID now. To sign in, click the LLLID Sign On button in the upper right corner. Enter your LLLID Alias and click the button again.

Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

I've been nursing my 9 week old daughter since the day she was born. Breastfeeding has been going pretty well, apart from a mild case of thrush that we are treating. Baby gets all her food from me, except one feeding a day is a bottle of formula from her Daddy. She doesn't really care for pacifiers. Some things that I've noticed that seem unusual are: a.) my nipple sometimes comes out of her mouth with a ridge on in it, like how some lipsticks look, b.) sometimes she feels like she is chomping on my nipple, it's not painful and almost feels clicky (if that makes sense), c.) sometimes she tugs at my nipple and turns her head from side to side, pulling my nipple along with it, and d.) she often drops her latch and I have to put her back on the breast. Is something going wrong here? I think she has a good latch, she gets a nice portion of my aureola in her mouth and both of her lips are flared out.

Re: Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on making it to 9 weeks of nursing!

As long as nursing is not painful and the baby is gaining weight appropriately, what you describe is nothing to get too worried about. Ridged nipples, chomping, clicking, and losing the latch during a feeding can be related to a shallow latch or a fast letdown, but when they occur without any other problem they're most likely something the baby will grow out of, and probably quite soon given how fast babies grow!

Some questions for you:
- When baby unlatches during a feeding, do you ever see milk squirting or streaming from the breast?
- Do you often feel engorged or full?
- How has baby's weight gain been so far? (Exact numbers would be helpful.)
- How do you feel about the formula? Do you want to be using it? If not, we can probably help you ditch it.

Re: Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

Hi, thanks for your reply! Nursing is not painful, only a little uncomfortable when she tugs or chomps down hard. I find the clicking makes me a little irritable.

When my baby unlatches, I don't see any milk squirting or streaming. I don't feel full or engorged very often, only when she goes a long period of time between nursing sessions at night. My baby is gaining weight at an appropriate rate, approximately an ounce a day. Here are her exact weights at her doctor visits:

In an ideal world, I would like all of her milk to be my breast milk, but lately I've found it difficult to pump because she wants to be held ALL of the time. When I can put her down, taking a shower is a higher priority to me than pumping. I'm hoping that as she grows, I can put her down more often and pump some milk
for the feeding her dad does.

Re: Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

Is the bottle a day from dad neccesary? Is it due to a separation or baby needing supplements, or due to a desire to feed baby on your husbands part? If it is the latter, you might want to forgo with that daily bottle for a couple weeks while you figure this out. For one thing, supplementing can harm milk production, especially if not accompanied by pumping. For another, this kind of thing with the funky latch could be caused by bottle feeding. Yes even one bottle a day. Some babies get 'nipple confusion' rather easily, and some never have a problem, and everything in between. And in some cases, it leads to baby latching poorly.

aside from that, I would agree with mommal. How many times a day will your baby typically nurse? What nursing positions do you normally use?

Re: Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

Thanks for your reply lllmeg!

Yes, the bottle a day is necessary- I have epilepsy and my seizures are brought on by lack of sleep. I have dad give the baby a bottle, so that I can get a chunk of uninterrupted sleep. Nobody is pressuring me to let my husband give her the bottle, but we (myself, my husband, and my neurologist) agree that it's in my and my baby's best interest because it allows me to get some sleep and keeps my seizures at bay. It would be very, very dangerous for me to have a seizure while I am caring for my baby, and the risks of using a bottle and formula once a day far outweigh the risks of having a seizure.

I haven't really kept track of the number of times a day I nurse since my baby was a couple weeks. I nurse my baby on demand, I think it's usually every 2 1/2 to 3 hours at night and every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours during the day.

I usually use the cradle or cross-cradle hold. Occasionally, I use the side-lying position or football hold. I've tried the laid-back position, but I don't really like that one.

Re: Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

Ok, so in your case the bottle is neccesary. Sometimes it is and sometimes it is not, which is why I asked.

IN that case, I would suggest dad use paced bottle feeding technique which may help with any bottle confusion. If he is already doing so, great. I would also suggest pumping ~once a day if you possibly can, even if it is a very short pump session. This need not be every day and it need not be at the same time as the bottle. This is a safeguard suggestion for your milk supply continuing to be in good shape.

As far as laid back goes, I have found that many moms find this position awkward at first. But once they get the hang of it, they find it very comfortable for both mom and baby, plus it can help with latch issues. So if you would like to try it again, here is what I suggest.

You do not need to lean far back. any amount of lean is considered 'laid back.' It just means, not sitting up ramrod straight or hunched over baby.
Make sure you are well supported- back, shoulders and head or neck, so you can lean back comfortably with no strain.
baby can be in any position at all.
Some moms find they like to latch baby first and then relax back until they get the hang of latching baby in this position
while this position does often facilitate baby self latching, mom can of course help as much as she and baby needs or likes.
Play around wiht it. As long as mom is leaning back, even slightly, and supported, that is 'laid back'. It is a very versatile position.

Is the chomping or shallow latch/clicking happening more, or less, right after your longer stretch of sleep? Or no difference? This might give us a clue if forceful letdown is involved at all. Forceful letdown tends to be worse if it has been a while since baby nursed. Forceful letdown is usually not really a big problem, so there is no reason to be concerned about it or change your routine, it just might help explain what is happening. On the other hand, if baby nurses better after the long sleep, that might indicate baby is getting a little frustrated with a slower flow other times of the day. In that case, breast compressions may help. If there is no correlation, then? I am back to my original thoughts. Again I agree with mommal, as long as you are not having pain or injury, this may be ok, but if it is worsening or making breastfeeding uncomfortable for you, you might want to talk to an IBCLC or other breastfeeding helper who can watch baby nurse and help you figure this out.
paced bottle feeding info: bottle feeding the breastfed baby
Information sheet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs (Don’t worry about what she says about time between feeds- typically, best to cue feed whether nursing or bottles.)

Re: Questions about breastfeeding my 9 week old...

Thanks Meg, I have forwarded the bottle feeding links to my husband. I'm working on trying to pump, but it's really difficult with my little velcro baby. :-)

I'll give the laid back position a few more tries and see how it goes.

The chomping, clicking, unlatching, and tugging seems to happen at all times of day or night. It's not painful, but it is annoying to me, because it requires much more work on my part, because I keep having to latch her back on.